EPA’s Wood Stove / Wood Heater Regulations: Frequently Asked Questions. Congressional Research Service. James E. McCarthy, Kate C. Shouse. December 18, 2018
On March 7, 2018, the House passed H.R. 1917, a bill that would delay for three years the implementation of more stringent emission standards for new residential wood heaters. The emission standards were promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015, and are becoming effective through a two-step process. Step 1 standards took effect on May 15, 2015; unless delayed, more stringent Step 2 standards will become effective on May 15, 2020. EPA’s 2015 rule revises standards for wood stoves and pellet stoves that were set in 1988, and establishes standards for other types of wood heaters, principally forced air furnaces and hydronic heaters, for the first time. According to EPA, smoke from wood heaters and fireplaces contributes “hundreds of thousands of tons” of fine particles to the air each year, nationally accounting for nearly 25% of all area source air toxics cancer risks and 15% of noncancer respiratory effects. In many areas, in wintertime, wood heaters are the largest source of particulate air pollution. Until the implementation of this rule, however, many heater types were not subject to any federal emission standard.
[PDF format, 15 pages].
